Waters rising dangerously high in southern Belize…

Tropical Depression Number sixteen dissipated in Central Guatemala and western Nicaragua on Thursday causing torrential rains throughout the region where it is reported that four persons died in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras and over one hundred and fifty thousand persons were evacuated. In Belize, a tropical storm watch was called off on Tuesday but intense rains have been affecting the south, west and the Belize District. Bridges are impassable in southern Belize, hundreds have been evacuated and in the Cayo District, water is rising to very high levels. Schools closed today as residents prepared for the worst, and heavy flooding is expected over the weekend. A News Five team, deployed to the affected areas, has full coverage of today’s events. Marion Ali reports from southern Belize.

Marion Ali, Reporting
Two days ago when we travelled south, the effects of the heavy rains had not yet begun to show. But by today, days of intense downpour were evident in most of the flood-prone areas. The North Stann Creek River, which was normal two days ago now had strong current and was steadily rising. Several families in Hope Creek Village had also sought shelter at the IT-VET building.

Lorenza Trejo, Shelter Manager, Hope Creek
“Right now we have about thirty-six people during the day but sometime they go home and they cook, but at night we have up to fifty-five and we don’t know how long they’ll stay in the shelter. They just left the shelter open until dehn give wi notice how long it will stay open.”

Marion Ali
“You have space to accommodate more because I understand that more rains are due.”Lorenza Trejo
“Well, so far we no have no more space in the IT-VET building but they say they are going to transfer the people to the Pomona Community Centre.”

Marion Ali
“You have the supplies there? You have the support that you need should in case these people need to stay here for an extended period?”

Lorenza Trejo
“Well, right now we di get support from di Red Cross. Dehn bring breakfast this morning so people di get help.”

Further south the situation also had people making necessary preparations to wait out the flooding. Vegetable vendor Antonio Montoya and his wife arrived at the Kendal crossing at eleven this morning and were prepared to wait.

Antonio Montoya, Motorist
“I wah sleep right here.”

Marion Ali
“Where you coming from?”

Antonio Montoya
“Belmopan.”

Marion Ali
“And you’re heading to where?”

Antonio Montoya
“Mango Creek.”

Marion Ali
“To sell vegetables?”

Antonio Montoya
“Yes, Mango Creek, Bella Vista.”

But if forecasters are correct, another weather system approaching the region is expected to dump even more rain over the south next week, possibly prolonging the closure at Kendal. But while that is the outlook, personnel from the Ministry of Transport and the National Emergency Management Organisation were already taking measures to ensure that canoe crossings are safe and to reinforce the causeway.

Bill Cuevas, Technical Supervisor, Stann Creek
“We are bringing in these piles to continue the low-level crossing, as you could see further downstream, and also to commence the construction of the temporary bridge that should be coming in next week.”

Marion Ali
“How long do you think— how many days or how long will it take you all to make this passable again for the public?”

Bill Cuevas
“If you are talking about the low-level crossing I do not want to commit myself to that because the rain is off and on. Right now it’s going down nicely and if it continues to go to that, maybe sometime around daylight we can have this thing reinstated. But if the rains are to come back or anything like that then we would be right back at square one.”

Marion Ali
“In other words it would take you about one day to do the necessary work after the floods have gone down.”

Bill Cuevas
“That’s right.”

Marion Ali
“About the new bridge that’s supposed to be here, what’s the status with that?”

Bill Cuevas
“Well, I understand from my people in Belmopan that it should be coming in next week.”

Marion Ali
“And it should be assembled when?”

Bill Cuevas
“it should take something like fourteen to twenty-one days to assemble.”

Alberto Logan, Senior Transport Officer
“Usually if it rains a lot we don’t allow the boats to cross anybody, hence the reason why we are out here. From this morning, as you can see, it went down about four, five feet but we can’t tell if it will come up back due to the amount of rain.”

Marion Ali
“And if that’s the case, then everything will stop; all operations?”

Alberto Logan
“Definite, as long as debris start coming down, we don’t even allow the boat to cross the people. It’s too risky.”

But according to Minister of Transport and NEMO, Melvin Hulse Junior, a major part of that risk in flooding is the debris in the water itself, which is created when people clear land slopes.

Melvin Hulse Jr, Minister of Transport, NEMO
“One of the major things that is hurting us now is that two much of our river land and too much of our hillside land has been given away. So it is not the height of the flood that is causing the majority of the damage, it is the debris the floods are now bringing that damages things. Tek example, mostly up the rivers people are felling trees, leaving it there. They are along hillside above twenty-five degrees, they are along riverside where sixty-six foot river reserve are to be left in its natural vegetation. That is no longer happening so you have two, three trees being floated away in a flood. So you have a river moving at thirty-five miles an hour bringing ten tons of trees. So it’s not the flood that moves Kendall bridge and damage it, it is the debris that it was bringing because Kendall Bridge has experienced floods. Roaring Creek Bridge always floods, Hawkesworth Bridge always floods. They have not gone because the debris has not been there accompanying the flood.”

Marion Ali
“Is government doing anything to curb this situation, to mitigate and to prevent future occurrences?”

Melvin Hulse Jr.
“Definitely, we jointly; NEMO along with Natural Resources along with Environment and all the corresponding ministries have been working together. We have been looking at all the land, looking to get back some of the land, making sure that whatever hillside and river land are not being given away. And those that already have private owners; we are ensuring that they do not remove the vegetation.”

And while government work on ways of preventing further land clearings on slopes, the technical people believe that once assembled, the temporary bridge will be able to withstand these types of flooding in the future.

Bill Cuevas
“This temporary bridge that we are planning on erecting will e above the level of the last know highest flood.”

Marion Ali
“So it should be safe?”

Bill Cuevas
“Yes, should be.”

Until then, travellers wanting to reach from one side to another at Kendall will have to cross via canoe. And that is exactly what we found when we got there today. A couple boat owners had joined the Belize Defence Force in helping travellers across the dangerous river.

Apolitico Salam, Canoe Owner
I just want help people cross because den we have disaster inna wi country.”

Engineers were hopeful that if the rains hold up for a day, they might be able to do the necessary repairs to the causeway in order to reconnect southern Belize with the rest of the country. Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.